The only furniture was a table and a chair. They could both be folded away if needed. Sitting on the table was a battery-powered lantern. When Tanner turned it on, he found that the batteries were dead.
Joshua wouldn’t have been the first person Carter tortured for information. The private investigator had some harsh ways of questioning people. Tanner wondered if there were bodies buried nearby. It seemed a safe bet that there were.
Joshua jumped in fright when Tanner opened the van and climbed inside. Joshua hadn’t heard his approach and had been only half-awake. Despite the strange surrounding and the possibility of danger, the medication coursing through his system was making Joshua sleepy.
“You scared me. Did you find anything?”
Tanner started the van and drove it onto the narrow dirt road. “There’s a shack. If Carter had brought you here, you would have never made it home again.”
“You’re saying he’s a killer?”
“It looks that way. He might have information on Miller that we can use.”
Branches scraped the sides of the van and it rocked side to side as it went over the uneven ground. They reached the end of the road and Tanner managed to maneuver the van around so that it faced the other way by backing up and going forward several times. If he had to leave in a hurry, he didn’t want to waste time making turns or trying to reverse down the narrow lane without hitting a tree.
Carter spoke up from the rear of the van. He had just regained consciousness. “Oh, my head. What happened?”
Tanner left his seat to walk around to the rear of the van and open the back doors. He climbed inside, where he knelt beside Carter’s prone form. The PI stared up at him, then he looked down along his body at the chains and restraints binding his arms and legs.
Carter’s eyes shifted from side to side, and Tanner could see the wheels turning in his head. After licking his lips, Carter spoke again.
“I’m willing to do anything it takes so I can walk away from this. Tell me what you want?”
“I like your attitude,” Tanner said. “It just might keep you alive.”
Carter heard movement behind him; he craned his neck to see that Joshua was peering down at him over the back of a seat.
“This has something to do with Miller and the tablet he wants?”
“That’s right. What do you know about it?”
“All he told me was that he wanted the tablet back and that this guy named Joshua had it. He didn’t mention you… whoever you are.”
“He doesn’t know about me, and I plan to keep it that way for now.”
“There’s something important on that tablet, isn’t there? And I’m betting there’s money involved.”
“Tell me everything you know about Miller.”
“I know his name isn’t Morgan Miller, but I don’t know what his real name is either. I met the guy because we have a mutual acquaintance, and Miller throws work my way a few times a year.”
“Who was this mutual acquaintance?”
“He’s a guy named Tibbetts who owns a security service and runs a crew of operators on the side. You know, mercenaries.”
“What do you know about the riot in San Padre?”
Carter’s face screwed up in confusion. “What is there to know? A lot of rioting went on and it sounds like half the city burned down.”
“Where were you when it was happening?”
“Um, that was two days ago. I was in Las Vegas. I like to gamble.”
“You took a big risk by agreeing to work for Miller.”
Carter looked down at the chains and manacles binding him. “It looks like I lost that bet. But hey, I’m answering your questions, right? You don’t need to hurt me.”
“Do you recognize where you are?”
“Should I?”
Tanner reached over and grabbed the chains wrapped around Carter so that he could pull him into an upright position. When Carter looked around and saw that they were parked at the end of a dirt road to nowhere, he licked his lips nervously.
“How do you know about the shack?”
“I just followed your GPS directions.”
Carter’s breathing grew more rapid. “I wasn’t going to hurt your friend. Really, dude. I was going to take him to see Miller like he wanted to.”
“Sure,” Tanner said. “Where is Miller?”
“I don’t know. I only spoke to him by phone. But I can find him. I found your friend; I can find Miller.”
Tanner left the van and signaled to Joshua, telling him to follow him. When they were far enough away from the van so that Carter couldn’t hear them, Joshua spoke.
“I don’t think this guy knows anything. I think Miller only hired him to find me.”
“I think you’re right. When he doesn’t make contact, Miller will send someone else after you. They’ll be a step up from Carter, and Carter is dangerous.”
Joshua swallowed hard. “What should I do?”
“I have a plan that will keep you safe and will lead to finding out who the people behind Miller are. If it’s to work… you can’t kill Miller.”
Joshua’s face reddened with anger. “Why not? Once he’s dead, I’ll be safe. And he deserves to die for killing Haley.”
“There are people who have a lot invested in Miller. If he dies, they’ll want to know who killed him and why. That will lead to Miller’s bosses finding out about you, and they’ll send people after you.”
Joshua paced in a circle with his head down as he thought about his options. When he stopped walking, he stared over at the van where Carter was. He knew that if Tanner hadn’t shown up when he had, that he might be dead.
“What’s your plan?”
26
Who Was That Masked Man?
Miller grunted in frustration. He was sitting in the home office at the beach house and staring down at the cell phone in his hand, while willing it to ring. Carter had called him earlier and said that he was heading to Joshua’s apartment, and that he would call him back within an hour. It was almost two hours later, and Carter wasn’t answering his calls.
Miller stopped staring at the phone and used it to make a call. It was time to bring in Tibbetts and his men. Either Joshua had somehow gotten away from Carter, or Carter was up to something. Whatever the reason was, stronger measures needed to be taken.
“This is Tibbetts.”
“It’s Morgan Miller. I need you to track down that cell phone number I gave you.”
“Hold on a minute and let me call my guy.”
Tibbetts was gone for nearly two minutes, but when he came back on the line, he had good news.
“My guy says that the phone is pinging off a cell tower in the middle of nowhere. He’ll be able to lead me right to it once I get close enough.”
“Does he mean a wooded area?”
“Could be, why?”
“Carter has mentioned to me that he takes people to a place he calls the Shack. He said it was in the middle of the woods somewhere.”
“That’s probably it. I can be there with three of my guys in about half an hour, that is, once you pay our fee.”
“I’ll send it right away. Call me when you get there, and then again after you find Carter and Joshua.”
“What do these dudes look like?”
“You know Andrew Carter; I met him through you, he’s a private investigator.”
“Oh, that guy. Yeah, I haven’t seen him in years.”
Miller described Joshua then, and Tibbetts laughed when Miller said that Joshua’s face would be a wreck.
“Who jacked the dude up?”
“I did. I only wish I’d done worse to him.”
“We’re on the move. I’ll call you soon.”
“And I’ll send you your money. Don’t fail.”
“Have we ever?”
“No. That’s why I called you.”
Miller transferred twenty thousand dollars into Tibbetts’ account and sat back in his office chair. It hurt to part with mon
ey to get something back that belonged to him, but he felt better about the situation. Tibbetts and his people would locate Carter and Joshua and they would retrieve the tablet too. Although it was still early in the day, Miller removed a bottle of whiskey from the bottom drawer of the desk and poured himself a drink.
After checking the time on his watch, he waited to hear back from Tibbetts.
Tanner had removed the chains from Carter long enough to walk him through the woods and into the shack. The private investigator appeared less than thrilled to be in the same dire predicament that he had subjected others to in the past. Tanner had him secured in the corner of the shack where the bloodstains were. He had handed the bat and the fireplace poker to Joshua.
He didn’t think Joshua would use the items on Carter. Had it been Miller chained to the wall, it would be a different story. The plan he had in mind relied on Joshua to not kill Miller when the opportunity came to do so. Tanner wasn’t certain that Joshua would be able to restrain himself. Then again, it was one thing for most people to talk about getting revenge through murder and quite another to act on it.
Tanner had never had a problem dealing out death but understood that he and those like him were the exception, and not the norm.
Tanner tossed his head at the door, indicating to Joshua that they would go outside and away from the stench of the shack.
Carter called out to them. “Are you just going to leave me here to die?”
Tanner turned and looked at him. When he walked back over, he was removing a folding knife from his pocket. Carter tried to kick him, but the chains only allowed him to move his bound ankles a few inches.
“If you stay still, you won’t get cut,” Tanner told him.
He began slicing away at the shirt Carter wore. He needed the material to fashion a gag for the man. After stuffing one end of it into Carter’s mouth, Tanner wrapped the remainder around his head and tied it tight with a knot. When he was done, Carter could only mumble.
When they were outside the shack and enjoying the clean air, Joshua asked Tanner why they were still there.
“I’m waiting for someone.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know who and I don’t know how many, but Miller will send them here to look for you and Carter. He has too much to lose to rely on Carter alone.”
“How is anyone going to find us here?”
“I could if I had to do so, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Miller knew people who could do it too.”
Joshua sat and leaned against a tree. “How long do we have to wait here?”
“I’ll give it another two hours and then we’ll leave. If I’m wrong and no one shows up, there’s no harm. But if I’m right, this is a good place to deal with someone and not have to be concerned about attracting attention.”
Joshua lowered his head into his hands. “This is such a mess. All I wanted was to see Kyle Anderson get what he deserved for hitting that child and running off. Now, Haley is dead, and people are out to kill me.”
“It will be over soon, Joshua. If you follow my plan, Miller and Naya will be the ones in trouble, and you’ll be able to walk away.”
“I just want to see the man dead.”
Tanner offered Joshua a hand. “C’mon, get up. I have to get you out of sight. Someone could be here soon.”
Joshua frowned. “I’m not going in that shack again; it stinks in there.”
“I’ve got a better idea.”
Minutes later, Joshua was lying on his back in the middle of the shack’s small roof. If he stayed in a prone position, he should remain unseen by anyone approaching the shack. Carter, or whoever built the shack, hadn’t bothered to cut the boards they used after assembling the building’s frame. Consequently, there was about a one-foot-high border around the entire roof. The boards weren’t tight and there were gaps between some of them, but the spaces weren’t wide enough to see through unless you were close up to them. Joshua should remain unobserved.
There was a blanket beneath him that came from the van, and with a canopy of branches from the surrounding fir trees keeping the sun off him, he was comfortable.
He smiled at Tanner, who was standing over him. “I could fall asleep up here.”
“If you do, gunfire might awaken you. Remember to stay still and stay quiet. No matter what you hear, don’t sit up to look around, or you’ll be spotted.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be the one doing the shooting.”
After climbing down from the roof, Tanner walked back toward the road to keep watch from the trees. It would be a while until anyone appeared. He decided to call Sara and let her know what was going on.
“Hello?”
“It’s me. I’m using a burner phone.”
“That means there’s trouble.”
Tanner went on to explain to Sara what was happening and that he had a plan to get Joshua out of the mess he was in. To do so, he would need help from his brother.
When Caleb came on the line, Tanner explained to him what he hoped to do and told Caleb his part in it. Although Tanner’s brother-in-law, Jake Garner, was an FBI agent, he was in New York City. Caleb had a connection to an agent who was based in California. Her name was Amanda Eriksen. Her late husband, John Price, had been the head of Ordnance Inc.
As Stark, Caleb and Eriksen had a working relationship. Whenever Stark took down a gang of thieves and stole from them, he’d tip off Eriksen and she’d pass the information along to friends she had in the police department. If the gang was guilty of breaking federal law, such as transporting stolen goods across state lines, Eriksen would swoop in to arrest them herself.
Eriksen had once wanted to arrest Stark for acting as a vigilante. After he saved her life when she’d been shot by her husband’s younger brother, Billy Price, Eriksen realized that Stark, although a criminal, was doing good and helping people. She had vowed to uphold the law, but she was wise enough to see that placing Stark behind bars would be a waste and only aid the real criminals.
“I’ll call Amanda and give her a heads up. Corporate crime isn’t her usual case, but I’m sure she’ll know who to pass it on to.”
“She may not want to pass it on. What’s going on in San Padre will make the news everywhere once it’s revealed. Eriksen will owe you one, little brother.”
“She already does. Her success rate was high before we started working together, now it’s through the roof. But tell me, Cody, will this guy Joshua be able to deliver what we need?”
“I’m not sure, Caleb. He hasn’t agreed to help, but I think he will. And oh yeah, there’s a good chance that he’ll try to kill Morgan Miller when he sees him. If that happens, the whole deal is off.”
“That’s why you don’t want me to give Amanda his name yet. Because that way she won’t be able to arrest him for the murder.”
“Yeah, and I wouldn’t blame Joshua if he did kill the man.”
“Neither would I,” Caleb agreed.
Tibbetts arrived in the area where the shack was located with three of his men. They were all carrying rifles that were AK-47s. After spotting the van, they checked it out and found Carter’s registration and insurance papers. A call to the man tracking Carter’s cell phone signal revealed that they were less than half a mile away from the phone.
Tibbetts told his men to head out through the trees in different directions, when they were more than half a mile out, they were to wait for his signal then head back. They would be coming at Carter and Joshua from four different directions. If Carter and Joshua tried to make it back to the van, either Tibbetts or one of his men would stop them.
“Wear your ski masks and keep your rifles ready. I’m not sure what we’re up against here.”
Tibbetts’ men acknowledged his orders and went off in different directions to circle back toward the shack. Tibbetts waited by the van for a few minutes to give them time to get into position, then he donned a black ski mask and started forward.
Texts c
ame into his phone one after another from his three men. They were all a half mile out and ready to close in on the target. He sent them instructions telling them to proceed and to text again if they spotted something.
George Garvey was one of Tibbetts’ men. The ex-British soldier had been working for Tibbetts’ security company for two years. The money was good and the men he worked with were professionals.
Garvey was wearing a blue ski mask, while the others wore different colors. He could tell who they were by the color of ski mask they wore, and they could identify him the same way. If there were cameras, or someone tried to capture their image using their cell phone, the mask would hide their identities. Garvey’s mask could also be used to disguise the man who was closing in on him from his right.
Tanner had heard the engine of the SUV that Tibbetts and his men arrived in. He’d been tucked back out of sight a hundred feet from the trees that bordered the dirt road. He’d watched Garvey and the other men head off in different directions while Tibbetts stayed near the SUV.
He understood their strategy and thought it was a sound way to go about things. Since there were four of them, they could cover the four directions anyone might take to leave the shack. Tanner considered taking out Tibbetts and luring the men back to the SUV for an ambush, but the men appeared well-trained and would be careful. If they returned to the road and didn’t see Tibbetts, it would place them on alert.
Lit Fuse (A Tanner Novel Book 44) Page 16
